Menu

This one just came on the market/I saw it yesterday. Smaller than the other one in the building (that I put the offer on), but also lower taxes and HOA.

New one: higher floor (awesome views of Chicago and the lake, but also over the Metra but up high enough it’s not a big deal – the train was there while I was viewing it and it was fine), smaller (just under 700 sq ft), no bathtub, smaller bedroom, no walk-in closet, more open kitchen, more open floorplan, no foyer, lower taxes/HOAs would save me ~$200/month, carpet, corner unit, parking space on the ground floor of the garage so I’d have to take an elevator up to my floor, more counterspace (i think) with bfast bar

Original one: wood floors in main area, bigger (just under 900 sq ft) higher taxes/HOAs, extra linen closet, massive walk-in closet, less open floorplan, real entryway/foyer, crappy views (busy street, lower floor so still seeing businesses rather than skyline and lake, no Metra though), parking space on the same floor so non need to use elevator when bringing in groceries, across from the greenspace/rooftop garden, down the hall from the gym/pool (convenient, but anyone who wants to go has to walk by my door), kitchen is in a corner rather than being open to the apartment, no breakfast bar but has separate dining area, double sink (kinda), has bathtub

Both have same size laundry closet and equally crappy cabinets and counters.

I was just talking to one of my friends about trust and relationships and his opinion was that you can always keylog the person and see what they’re really up to. I don’t think that’s a good idea, in fact, I think it’s best to not even be with someone if you don’t trust them. I mean what are you going to do, always have that nagging feeling that they’re not being truthful with you? That’s going to drive you nuts! And even if you snoop or whatever and don’t find anything, it’s not going to set your mind at ease because you’re already feeling that way. It’s so much better to be with someone who you trust and don’t even feel the need to go looking through their things.

Trust me, I know. I’ve been in that situation before where you just don’t quite trust the other person but you can’t put your finger on why. It sucks. You’re always wondering what they’re up to, and it’s actually kind of ironic because those people are usually always suspicious of you, and you haven’t even done anything. Am I right? So you wonder what you’ve actually done which just makes you feel a little bit crazy, and sometimes you go out of your way to prove that you’re not doing anything bad, almost as if it’s like “see? I told you I’m not doing anything!” But that never works, possibly because the other person has a guilty conscience to begin with. You also might notice that they don’t actually do anything themselves to help you feel better, yet they are the shady one and always want you to explain yourself. It’s kind of easy to get caught up in that situation without realizing it, and then looking back on it you’re just like wow… how did that even happen? And you make sure it never happens again.

It’s always best to only date people that you trust. It’s so much easier to relax and enjoy life in that type of situation. The energy is so much better and positive and you can just enjoy each other’s company without that nagging feeling in the back of your mind like something is wrong, and wondering what the other person is up to. In fact, I would even say that if your relationship has you worrying about anything like that at all it’s best to find someone else to date instead.

So my girlfriend has two cats and they drive me crazy. I am not a cat person at all. I think they are sneaky, smelly and annoying. I think it’s true when people say you are either a dog person or cat person. I am 100% a dog person. They are much better behaved and they go to the bathroom outside.

One of the things that really angers me about cats is that they pretty much sleep all day and then they come alive at night, when I am trying to sleep. I constantly hear them running around chasing each other night. When they are not chasing each other making noise they are playing with something they found on the ground and being loud about it. I also think they watch me. If they were people they would be hackers and would spy on me. They would make good spies. When I was growing up we had cats and dogs and the cats would always creep around and spy on the dogs and the dogs would just be doing their thing. They were all friendly with each other but they still kind of crept around.

One day last summer one of her cats ran away. My girlfriend was so sad when he ran away, but I kept telling her that cats run away all the time and he will be back. She knew I was happy that he was gone but was appreciative that I was consoling her. After 5 days of Danielle being gone I came to the conclusion that he was gone for good. He had been an indoors cat his whole life and I figured he got lost out in the wild. My girlfriend kept putting food outside but each morning she woke up the food was still there. I was surprised that the food was still there, I thought a raccoon would come along and at least eat the food, but nothing. Eventually he did come back, though. I woke up one morning and there he was sitting by the back door crying. The poor cat looked pathetic. It was clear he had not eaten in a while because he was very skinny. I let him in the house and brought him upstairs and woke up my girlfriend. She was so excited to have him home even though he smelled horrible.

So for now I still have to deal with two cats, but I told her that once these cats pass we are not getting anymore. She agreed to that mainly because I don’t think she enjoys cleaning up after them. Bad news is that they are still very young. Oh well maybe Danielle will take another vacation this summer.